Hence I have said to you, You are to possess their land, and I Myself will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the LORD your God, who has separated you from the peoples. Our Lord teaches us here that divorce causes adultery. The man, on the other hand, is under his parents authority as a child, but when he leaves them he terminates that chain of command and establishes a new chain of command, being the head of his wife and the family which may follow. and that we will not give our daughters to the peoples of the land or take their daughters for our sons. 18:24-30). Judaism condemned adultery and sexual immorality, as can be seen from John chapter 8. Furthermore, He may even appear to be lenient on those guilty of immorality. I honestly believe that. 3, 24-30). 6-8). Some have attempted to show that the sin committed in the Garden of Eden was a sexual sin. It was Gods will to use Joseph as a forerunner to prepare the children of Israel for what was next (Genesis 45:7-9). Judgment awaits this nation, which is likened to a harlot. Marriage, by Gods decree, is sanctified, it is a relationship that is set apart and restricted. I would suggest that the four things which set a marriage apart from other relationships are the very four things which distinguish a Christians relationship with his Lord and with His body, the church. Satan can be expected to attack the sanctity of marriage in order to wage war on the seed.. 22-27). After Joseph died, the children of Israel were numerous, a great nation. The couple finally ties the knot and it's sure to be a wedding to remember. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org, Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take to himself a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he charged him, saying, You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,. 5:18). Joseph suffered many things because of his brothers. The Mohar.The funds, called mohar, are so important that this clause is called ikkar ketubahthe basic part of the ketubah, or simply the ketubah. Just as no man can have two masters, neither can one have two unionsone with Christ, and another with a harlot. Robert L. (Bob)Deffinbaugh graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary with his Th.M. We also see how the Lord made Pharaoh release His people. Lots of exceptions to the rule. They become one in spirit, and sexually they become one in physical union. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but love from the Lord is its completion. The higher the vote, the further up an answer is. Every daughter who comes into possession of an inheritance of any tribe of the sons of Israel shall be wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father, so that the sons of Israel each may possess the inheritance of his fathers. And if your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out, and throw it from you; for it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. So the LORD GOD caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh at the place. "You shall have no other gods before me. Great were the consequences. This is a point which the prophets of the Old Testament will take up and greatly expand upon in later times. When we leave the gospels of the New Testament and come to the epistles, there is a change which we should recognize and appreciate. The reason seems to be solely because God has sanctified the marriage and the sexual sin has profaned it. He then immediately turns to our sanctification as it relates to our sexual conduct. Exodus 20:1-26 ESV / 16 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful. 4:4), and holding the marriage bed in honor, keeping the marriage bed undefiled (Heb. Abraham, and his seed, is set apart from the rest of mankind, and through Him Messiah will come and will bring blessing and salvation to all nations. This is what we shall seek to learn from the writings of the apostles in the New Testament. Exodus. What I would say is this; if the slave viewed his marriage as sacred, and held it in high regard, then a provision to sustain his marriage is set forth here in this text: the slave can renounce his "freedom" and remain a slave to his master, and in so . Our approach to this study will be to consider the progressively revealed truths of God about sex and marriage, beginning in the Old Testament, and then going to the New Testament. He equates sexual union with marital union. Smith is also a playwrightand poet. First, I believe that a Christian has the right to divorce a spouse for adultery, but that this is never ones duty, and seldom ones highest calling. His indignation at discovering his daughter-in-law was pregnant out of wedlock (not knowing yet it was by him), reveals that sexual immorality was clearly condemned (cf. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers, OT Law: Exodus 2:21 Moses was content to dwell (Exo. Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take to himself a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he charged him, saying, You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan, and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan-aram. We sanctify sex because we value it highly, as a good gift from the hand of a gracious God. I started reading the series three days ago and devoured it! Many are crying out to God, and He hears them. 19:6). This sexual union consummates and symbolizes the union of marriage. In fact, it wasnt bad, in and of itself. We all restrict the use of (we sanctify) those things which we most highly prize. Lev. Any books with similarly powerful stories that you can suggest. If you havent read it yet, I highly recommend it. Based on the Hebrew Bible, intermarriage was quite frequent in early Israelite society. Moses consented, and in course of time took to wife Zipporah, one of Reuel's daughters. When I had fed them to the full, They committed adultery And trooped to the harlots house. Some died on the spot for murmuring and complaining about Moses (Numbers 16:33). Our culture protests that Christians disdain and demean sex, that we have little appreciation for it. (Prov. Dr. Sandra Hamer Smith is a Christian and wife to Sylvester Smith. (5) Divorce causes adultery. Adultery mocks the union of a man and his wife, and the God who joined them together. Mount Sinai, from which God spoke to Moses and the Israelites, was sanctified, set apart. The nation Israel is kept apart from other nations by her time in Egypt, and in the plagues, the Israelites are distinguished from the Egyptians. Then his father and his mother said to him, Is there no woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines? But Samson said to his father, Get her for me, for she looks good to me.. In chapter 35, Ruben lay with one of his fathers concubines (35:22). One can build up the other in those intimate areas of ones heart and life, but one can also do great damage in the intimate areas as well. Our Lord is teaching us that we must, unlike our culture, take sexual sin most seriously. Furthermore, there must be a distinction drawn between what is personally permissible and what is detrimental to others (cf. The important thing to note here is that God also promised salvation through the seed of the woman in the midst of the curse pronounced on Satan: And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you will bruise him on the heel (Gen. 3:15). The book of Exodus not only tells some of the Bibles most famous events, but the word means something that sums up the books entire message. Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine. Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice in the wife of your youth. For starters, we need to get the nature of marriage right. If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money equal to the bride price for virgins." If the passages don't mean that a woman has to marry her rapist, then what do they mean? The Bible says, Study to show thyself approved unto God a workman that needed not be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). When we sanctify sex, it is because we value it highly, not because we disdain it as something of little worth. So Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan displeased his father Isaac;read more.and Esau went to Ishmael, and married, besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abrahams son, the sister of Nebaioth. We know, of course, that the Lord Jesus was not born of the union of Mary and Joseph, but by a supernatural conception brought about by the Holy Spirit. The Book of Exodus (Exodus 2:5) does not give a name to Pharaoh's daughter, or to her father; she is referred to in Hebrew as simply the Bat-Paroh (Hebrew: ), a Hebrew phrase that literally translates to "daughter of Pharaoh."The Book of Jubilees (Jubilees 47:5) and Josephus both name her as Thermouthis (Greek: ), also transliterated as Tharmuth and . Sanctification involves setting something apart for a special use. Our culture believes that the obtaining of a certificate of divorce legitimizes adultery. But it is also referred to regularly in later Bible books. Dr. Smith has freelanced for the Tri-State Defendernewspaper and Contempora magazine. For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you and He will quickly destroy you. Would You not be angry with us to the point of destruction, until there is no remnant nor any who escape? Our culture is adamantly opposed to the sanctity of sex. It is God who brought Adam and Eve together as husband and wife. Just as God placed the forbidden fruit in sight and within the reach of Adam and Eve, so the forbidden fruit of sexual immorality is visible and available. 18:24-30; 20:22-26). Sanctification was, for example, the first great test which man failed in the Garden of Eden. After Joseph and his generation died, a new king arose over Egypt who was not familiar with Joseph (Exodus 1:6-8). If these Jewish leaders condemned sins which were overtly wrong actions, Jesus chose to focus on those hidden sins which were attitudes. Neither man nor beast was allowed to draw too near to it (Exod. Remember that God made it, and that all He made was good. For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Thus, when a divorce is granted due to adultery, a later marriage on the part of the innocent (that is, not guilty of adultery) party is not viewed to be adulterous. Time will not permit further exploration, but take note of how often unity (e.g. Now, he tells Abram that the blessings He will give him and all the nations will come through his seed. Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a harlot is one body with her? 11. First, we move from a Jewish to a Gentile culture. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed (Gen. 12:2-3). 12:13; Ps. (2) The sanctity of marriage. Not only did his master not give him authority over his wife, he could not have done so. It is crucial to study the book of Genesis to understand Exodus. Shaun and Lea got engaged in the Season 4 finale. We must start by praying for them, seeking what God will do. 1 Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again lest Satan tempt you because of your lack of self-control (1 Cor. Num. There are other instances of sexual immorality in Genesis, but let us turn our attention to the bright light of Josephs character, in contrast to that of his close relatives.43 Joseph was a young man, with all of the sexual desires of any other healthy male. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate (Matt. Let those who have already divorced and remarried remember that divorce and immorality (as all other sins save unbelief) is not an unpardonable sin. He can never divorce her as long as he lives. Pharaoh also instructed the midwives to kill the male children during birth but spare the female children (Exodus 1:15-16). v. 24). Some people seem to disdain sex in marriage as much as the Bible disdains it outside of marriage. When the first sin was committed by partaking of the forbidden fruit God pronounced punishments which were appropriate to each party involved, as well as the consequences for all mankind. In both the New and Old Testaments we are urged to let the pleasure and enjoyment of sex within marriage serve as a godly defense against sexual immorality:44. To play out her role as Gods priestly nation, Israel had to be separate, sanctified, different from the surrounding nations. 13:27). Now David called him, and he ate and drank before him, and he made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his bed with his lords servants, but he did not go down to his house (2 Samuel 11:1-13). Verse Concepts . There are two specific applications which I would suggest emerge from the observation of these unique areas in which marriage is sanctified, unique. Let them be yours alone, And not for strangers with you. Can you guess what that was? John did not hesitate, even for a moment. Away from his family, perhaps never again to return to his own people, how easy it would have been for him to succumb to the advances of his masters wife: And it came about after these events that his masters wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, Lie with me. But he refused and said to his masters wife, Behold, with me around, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge. 51:4) and New, adultery is, first and foremost, a sin against God. And, Paul says, it involves for Timothy the fleeing of youthful lusts, which surely include illicit sexual passions and conduct. To understand Johns response, you have to understand John. And one said, Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? And David sent messengers and took her, and when she came to him, he lay with her; and when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned to her house. If you have been following global events, the people of Ukraine are making an exodus because the Russians have invaded their country. Therefore, if a man cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. Marriage's original intent was so that man would not be alone . also 1 Tim. To remove either is a drastic action (as, for example, one would do in the case of cancer). Exodus 22:16-17A man who seduces a virgin must marry her or pay the price of a virgins dowry. And if you right hand makes you stumble, cut it off, and throw it from you; for it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish, than for your whole body to go into hell. Please say that you are my sister so that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may live on account of you (Gen. 12:10-13). For the land has become defiled, therefore I have visited its punishment upon it, so the land has spewed out its inhabitants. from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the sons of Israel, You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods. Solomon held fast to these in love. 15:19). He had to mature in Egypt away from his family. If you look at Exodus 1:5, you will see that seventy souls had come out of Jacob and arrived in Egypt with Joseph. The dictionary highlights this when it points out the Biblical origin of the word (Merriam-Websters.com, 2022). From the Old Testament perspective, adultery was a violation of the sanctity of marriage, which God established, and which the Law sought to maintain. But if they marry one of the sons of the other tribes of the sons of Israel, their inheritance will be withdrawn from the inheritance of our fathers and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; thus it will be withdrawn from our allotted inheritance. We must distinguish between truth and error, between good and evil, between holiness and unrighteousness. Marriage with the Midianites was allowed . The sanctity of sex in marriage clearly calls for the sanctity of sex before marriage. Shall I not punish these people, declares the LORD, And on a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself? (Jer. Flee immorality. Hands and eyes are involved as precipitating causes of immorality, however. Finally, we shall attempt to distill the biblical teaching into a few guiding and governing principles. Exodus 22:16-17 "If a man seduces a virgin who is not betrothed and lies with her, he shall give the bride price for her and make her his wife. Does the Bible Mention What to Give Up for Lent? 20:6). Israel remained in the wilderness for forty years. If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish. Taken as a whole, I believe that the above passages convey several vitally important truths, which we must pause to underscore: (1) Adultery is a more serious sexual sin because it is a violation of a marriage. In the Book of 1 Corinthians he focuses on illicit sexual union and its relationship to the believers union with Christ: Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money equal to the bride price for virgins." . For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress, And embrace the bosom of a foreigner? How Is Harry Potter a Literary Christ Figure? Eph. It is little wonder, then, that God has so much to teach man about sanctification in the Bible. We would thus expect him to wage war on the marital union, for it is through marital union that the seed will be preserved and the promised seed will come. The Bible is full of Israelite men marrying foreign women. If He spoke it, He will make it good (Numbers 23:19). My master made me swear, saying, You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live; So Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and charged him, and said to him, You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan-aram. 1 Corinthians 7:1-6 Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. (3) Terms referring to adultery and sexual immorality are employed non-literally, referring to Israels infidelity to God. In both cases, the forbidden fruit is available. God has here joined a man and a woman so that they have become a unity. (3) The Jewish religious leaders felt smugly self-righteous because they did not practice this form of sin, but they were guilty of other, more subtle, sins, which were more socially acceptable. He has also set this unity apart, distinguishing it from the previous parental-child entity. 20 And David said to all the congregation, Now bless the LORD your God. 4:11-12). The relationship between a husband and his wife is a union. The sanctity of marriage is indicated by the statement in Genesis 2:24, that a man must leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife. Consider, for a moment, how that forbidden fruit (whatever it might have been) is similar to the forbidden fruit of illicit sex. How tragic it is to see young people seduced (philosophically and physically), so that they will share that most treasured gift with those who cannot even be named or numbered.
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